Responding to calls

[Powder]

Any one still getting toms to respond to calls? I will be starting my season this weekend and am wondering if it's still possible to call them in. I'm in the northern part of the state.

[Cheetah]

I think it just depends on the specific birds you are hunting and how pressured they have been. My brother and I during our D season had zero response to calling. Other guys though hunting maybe 20 miles away on some private land said every bird they shot came right in to calling and were very responsive.

In past years I've had birds respond to my calling in a late May. Not too often though.

[Guppy]

My son and I just got done hunting the sixth season. We had the turkeys respond to the calls, everytime we called, they went the other way! We each managed to shoot a bird, but it wasn't due to calling.

[bloc004]

I finally got my bird this morning! No response to calls the past couple of days, silently coming in to check out the decoys!

[DonBo]

Calling should still work but you'll probably need to tone it down. Less is usually more this time of year, but you never know. See what works for you each day. Won't take long to figure out what they want...or don't want.

[paceman]

Yesterday The first time I hunted this particular ridge the birds came running in to the calling. I screwed up on three different toms because I wasn't ready for them or the brush was way to thick for a shot. Today the same birds on the same ridge went silent as soon as I called. They learn fast.

[USDA3]

I called in two toms today at work which were showing off for some ladies. They were more responsive to excited calling. City birds but was glad to see them still gobbling and struttin' away. Im the last season this year.

[Archerysniper]

I got my bird yesterday evening just like deer hunting no calls or decoys just set the blind up in the corner of the field where the birds feed all the time. Tryed calling to them in the morning and they would not respond just a few gobbles and they strutted a little bit but wouldn't get closer then 60 yards so I pulled the decoys and put the calls away.

[Borch]

Birds were quite responsive to calling yesterday but other than a few gobbles they were were unresponsive today.

[jiggin' fool]

I called in a gorgeous gobbler Friday evening for my gal. Bird gobbled on the far side of the pond at 6:00 p.m. At 6:10, he had strutted and gobbled his way all the way to us, along the edge of the pond, across the dike and right into the decoys. This bird weighed 25-1/2 pounds and had 1-1/8 and 1-1/4 spurs. Not a 2-year old, this bird had been around the block a time or two. I know 3 other hunters had been on this property prior to her season. Bottom line, I am still seeing birds in the morning with hens, even if they are young Jenny-hens. Hit them later in the afternoon, and you can still get them going. This guy gobbled and strutted like it was April 14th, not May 14th. Every day is differnt too.

[goblueM]

i second that - the birds in 349 G did NOT want anythign to do with calling in the morning. But after lunchtime, maybe about 2 PM, they would start going on the prowl. Got worked over by a gobbler for a couple hours a few days ago, and then both my uncle and I called in birds in the afternoon. they were definitely very callable depending on the day, although some hunters we talked to said they had no response to calling

so in summary, it depends

[bmc]

My dad and I hunted season F (May9-13) in Area 243. We were lucky to hunt private land that had went un-hunted this spring. We had hens and gobblers respond to our calls and the jakes came in silent. Lots of gobbling by 2 longbeards that were chasing each other away from a strut zone.

We also see the big tom chase some hens, who ran away from him and didn't want anything to do with him. I'm assuming their nests must be full and they were just out for a snack?

Brian

[Dave S]

I called in an awesome tom for my brother in law on Saturday. Our first spot was dead silent for 4 hours. Aside from coutless deer nad 2 coyotes about 150 yards out, we didn't hear a bird. We moved 1/4 mile to the edge of a field to see 3 jakes coming out to feed.

We hit one spot later in the day and had a tom gobble back immediately from about 200 yards out. Within 5 minutes, the tag was on the bird.

Sunday brought more fo the same in the same 2 areas. Area #1 was dead silent with only the 3 jakes from the day before staying 10 yards away....across the property line. They walked, and so did we.

We went back to area #2 where we took the tom the day before. This time it took 30-45 minutes, but who's counting anyway My dad thought he heard a hen cluck back at us. A couple minutes later she angrily announced her presence. For the next 15 minutes, it was a verbal battle royale between this hen and I. What a riot. All of the commotion had another bird fast approaching from across the field. It turned out to be another hen coming in to check things out. But alas, she had a beard and fell 40 yards from the end of the barrel.